Bitch Media - film reviewshttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/9038/0
enAdventures in Feministory: Pauline Kaelhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/adventures-in-feministory-pauline-kael
<p>Despite being a little lady who never quite passed the five-foot barrier, Pauline Kael left a mark of ogre proportions on the world of cinema. Kael, the O.G. of film criticism, never received a degree and never hesitated to voice her opinion, no matter how brutal her choice words may have been--my kind of gal.</p>
<p>On June 19th, 1919, Pauline Kael was born in Petaluma, California to Jewish immigrants from Poland. After losing their chicken farm, her family moved to San Francisco. I like to believe that there's something in the Bay's water that makes bohemianism come naturally, and Kael proves my theory. After studying philosophy, literature, and the arts at the University of California in Berkeley, she decided that the rigmarole of higher education offered none of the perks that life with the beats provided and moved to New York City with a caravan of artists.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="Pauline Kael" src="http://thefilmist.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/pk27_3471.jpg" alt="" width="228" height="266" /></p>
<p>Like a good bohemienne, Kael returned to Frisco and fell in and out of love quickly. The result: three failed marriages, one beautiful daughter with the filmmaker and Radical Faerie, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Broughton">James Broughton</a>, and a series of odd jobs. But all of the pitfalls of nonconformism weren't enough to keep Kael's voice unheard. While arguing about movies with a friend, Kael was approached by the editor of <em>City Lights</em> magazine to write a review of Charlie Chaplin's<em> Limelight</em>, which she so snarkily referred to as "slimelight". From that word forward, Kael began her prolific career as critic.</p>
<p>Kael's reviews were published in numerous magazines, and she conducted a weekly radio program on San Francisco's KPFA, which earned her the enviable job of managing the Berkley Cinema Guild from 1955 until 1960. However, Kael's big break came when a collection of her reviews, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lost-at-Movies-Pauline-Kael/dp/0714529753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1278370171&amp;sr=8-1"><em>I Lost It at the Movies</em></a>, was published in 1965 while she was working at <em>McCall's</em>. As lore tells it, Kael was fired from <em>McCall's </em>for her scathing review of the widely praised <em>The Sound of Music</em>. (Kael called the film a "sugarcoated lie that people seem to want to eat". Touché, Pauline, touché.)</p>
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Kael's dismissal from <em>McCall</em>'s led her to a job that produces so much envy in my being--reviewing movies for <em>The New Yorker</em> from 1967 to 1991, a mind blowing 24 year stint. You go girl! Kael became known for panning commercial blockbusters and praising the glory of art house cinema. Known for her sacrasm and loose writing style, Kael gained many fans and just as many foes. Kael changed the style for film criticism and <a href="http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/feature/2001/09/03/kael_remembrances/index.html">influenced</a> practically every working critic today. Her accessible prose and unmatched opinions proved that women could appreciate the best, criticize the praised, and castrate the blockbusters. (Watch out, Spielberg.)</p>
<p>Although Kael tends to be known for the punches she threw at the big guns, she found that celebrating films gave her more pleasure than panning the worst. Speaking of worsts, Kael took a brief hiatus from <em>The New Yorker</em> to work as a production executive for Warren Beatty. The relationship ended due to "artistic differences". (I assume that their business relationship ended because Kael could see through Beatty's coif and was just fed up with the womanizer.) But wait, another achievement must be added to Kael's already impressive resume, she wrote numerous essays on the philosophy of movie-going.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="Kael Too" src="http://pulse.sm-art.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/kael.jpg" alt="" width="204" height="248" /></p>
<p>Pauline Kael passed on <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/09/17/010917on_onlineonly01">September 3rd, 2001</a> at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy that's still unmatched. She changed the way many (myself included) watch movies. She managed to make waves in two male-dominated worlds, journalism and film. She gave new life to review writing and proved that popular culture is relevant. What Pauline Kael lacked in height, she made up for in words.</p>
<p><em>This post originally appeared on July 5th, 2010.</em></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/adventures-in-feministory-pauline-kael#commentsAdventures in Feministoryfeministoryfilm reviewsmoviesPauline KaelMoviesMon, 04 Jun 2012 17:58:48 +0000Sara Kantner3820 at http://bitchmagazine.orgVisi(bi)lity: Biphobia Bingo! A Look at Basic Instinct http://bitchmagazine.org/post/visibility-biphobia-bingo-a-look-at-basic-instinct-feminist-film
<p><img style="float: left; margin: 10px;" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/6831665674_39da580096.jpg" alt="This is the movie poster for "Basic Instinct." It features a profile of a naked man standing in front of a naked woman, who is facing the viewer. The woman has blonde hair and intense eyes, and her hand is like a claw on the man's back. The text below reads "Basic Instinct."" height="245" width="165" />Full disclosure: I love Paul Verhoeven's movies. I'm a fan of <em>RoboCop</em>, <em>Total Recall</em>, <em>Starship Troopers</em>...and, yes, even <em>Showgirls</em>. (Stay tuned for more about <em>Showgirls</em> later in this series.) These movies may not be cinematic masterpieces, but they are entertaining, escapist fun. So when I decided to give <em>Basic Instinct</em> a try, I was actually looking forward to it. I expected to enjoy it, even if only in a campy sense.</p>
<p>Oh, how wrong I was.</p>
<p>In <em>Basic Instinct</em>, Sharon Stone plays Catherine Tramell, a bisexual crime novelist and primary suspect in a murder investigation. Michael Douglas plays Nick Curran, the detective in charge of investigating the murder and Catherine's role in it. Along the way, Nick falls under the spell of Catherine's charisma and uninhibited sexuality. Will his attraction to her get in the way of his ability to do his job?</p>
<p>Rather than spoil the entire movie for you (though you should know that the ending is exceptionally terrible), I want to discuss Catherine's characterization. Initially, I liked her. She's professionally successful, ambitious, strong-willed, and holds her own among men. Her sexual confidence is impressive. Unfortunately, she quickly becomes an embodiment of major bisexual stereotypes.</p>
<p><img style="float: right; margin: 10px;" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/6831665532_95b49e2627.jpg" alt="This is a still from "Basic Instinct." Two women stand together, holding each other around the waist. They face the camera but their bodies are turned inward. One of the women has dirty blonde hair and is dressed in black. Her face is shadowed. The other woman has blonde hair and is dressed in beige." height="230" width="168" />Catherine sleeps with men, but her primary romantic relationships are with women. (When asked about the murder victim, with whom she was involved, Catherine replies, "I wasn't dating him. I was fucking him.") Her main lover is Roxy, a beautiful blonde whom viewers are supposed to read as butch because she wears a leather jacket and has an aggressive personality. Catherine and Roxy live together, but we never see them alone at home. They are not permitted real intimacy; their sexuality and lust is exploited for Nick's gaze, which functions as the stand-in for the heterosexual male spectator. There is only one moment when we see Catherine display any real emotions about Roxy—it's near the end of the film, and Roxy isn't in the scene. Otherwise, their relationship is sensual and passionate, but simultaneously cold and calculated, and all too conscious of creating an arousing spectacle for men—a spectacle that Nick is all to pleased to watch.</p>
<p>It isn't as if Catherine's relations with men are depicted more sincerely. When Catherine seduces men, she is equally performative. At one point, she mentions that she lets Roxy watch her have sex with men. Catherine also uses her sexuality to maintain control; nowhere is this more clear than in the infamous (and, frankly, laughable) interrogation scene, when she flashes her naked crotch at the detectives when uncrossing her legs. Nothing about Catherine's sexuality is sincere, which makes it easy to position her as the villain.</p>
<p>But, of course, sexual relations are not one-sided, and Catherine's lovers are just as guilty of questionable behavior as she is. Specifically, Nick doesn't seem to do a whole lot of detective work at any point in the film. Instead, he leers at Catherine's naked body when he spots her changing clothes through an open doorway, tries to make Roxy jealous by dancing with Catherine in front of her, and violates all sorts of ethical boundaries that should dictate behavior between detectives and murder suspects. He also rapes another woman in a particularly disturbing and gratuitous scene. Yet none of these actions are condemned; despite his completely inappropriate behavior, Nick remains the protagonist.</p>
<p><img style="float: left; margin: 10px;" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7207/6977793631_2d05290b09.jpg" alt="This is a still from "Basic Instinct." A man and a woman face each other, with their faces close together, as if to kiss. The man is wearing gray, and the woman is wearing shimmery gold. They appear to be in a crowded, well-lit room. " height="161" width="235" />This leaves Catherine as the film's antagonist. By depicting her as a sexually-aware, promiscuous, bisexual women, the film places all blame on Catherine, suggesting that she is "asking" for Nick's unethical attention. <em>Basic Instinct</em> has the opportunity to frame Catherine's sexuality in an empowering way. Instead, it is used as a way to make her appear manipulative and untrustworthy. Her behavior is tied to her sexuality in every way, making every indefensible action she makes a direct result of depraved sexuality.</p>
<p>In her groundbreaking essay "New Queer Cinema," which I recently read in the anthology <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813534860/" target="_blank"><em>New Queer Cinema: A Critical Reader</em></a>, film theorist B. Ruby Rich writes that "<em>Basic Instinct</em> was picketed by the self-righteous wing of the queer community (until dykes began to discover how much fun it was)." I admire Rich tremendously, but I disagree with her on this. I see very clearly why <em>Basic Instinct</em> resulted in such an outcry from LGBT community, and I think the response was justified. Much like William Friedkin's epically homophobic film <em>Cruising</em>, <em>Basic Instinct</em> depicts queerness in the most sinister ways imaginable. These films use queer sexuality as signifiers of depravity and a lack of morality. <em>Basic Instinct</em> relies on biphobic stereotypes to make Catherine a convincing villain. So while I enjoy fun and sexy movies as much as anyone, <em>Basic Instinct </em>did nothing for me. It may be classified as an erotic thriller, but there's no bigger turn-off to me than biphobia.</p>
<p><strong>Previously:</strong> <a href="/post/visibility-cynthia-nixon-and-the-politics-of-labels-bisexuality-feminism" target="_blank">Cynthia Nixon and the Politics of Labels</a>, <a href="/post/visibility-ibi-the-wayi-and-the-realities-of-bisexuality-feminist-film-review" target="_blank">Bi the Way and the Realities of Bisexuality</a></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/visibility-biphobia-bingo-a-look-at-basic-instinct-feminist-film#commentsBasic Instinctbiphobiabisexualbisexual visibilitybisexualityfilmfilm reviewsmoviesPaul VerhoevenreviewsVisi(bi)litySex and SexualityTue, 13 Mar 2012 19:18:27 +0000Carrie Nelson15788 at http://bitchmagazine.orgBitch Radio: Movie Review-o-Rama! Our Idiot Brother and Colombianahttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/bitch-radio-movie-review-o-rama-our-idiot-brother-and-colombiana
<p>Tune in as we review the new films <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637706/"target="_blank">Our Idiot Brother</a></em> and <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657507/"target="_blank">Colombiana</a></em>, both in theaters this weekend.</p>
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<p>Listen to the podcast right here on the Bitch website, or <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bitch-radio/id330195674"target="_blank">subscribe to our iTunes channel</a> to listen on the go. You can also hear it at <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/BitchRadioMovieReview-o-ramaOurIdiotBrotherAndColombiana"target="_blank">Archive.org</a>.</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/bitch-radio-movie-review-o-rama-our-idiot-brother-and-colombiana#commentsColombianafilm reviewsmoviesOur Idiot BrotherpodcastsFeminist PodcastFri, 26 Aug 2011 22:59:17 +0000Kelsey Wallace12194 at http://bitchmagazine.org